BiographyHistory

Bio changes summary

David Musgrave studied at the University of Sydney and graduated with a PhD in literature. He worked full time in information technology, while writing prose and poetry. In 2001, he was awarded an Australian Society of Authors mentorship. His work has won or been shortlisted for numerous awards and prizes including the Henry Lawson Prize for Poetry, The Sidney Nolan Gallery Poetry Prize, The Broadway, Somerset, Newcastle and Bruce Dawe Poetry prizes. In 2005 he founded Puncher and Wattmann, 'Australia's newest independent publisher of quality Australian writing'.

Awards for Works

'In this book-length poem, (which starts in a manner reminiscent of Beckett’s Company), the isness of voice is its central preoccupation: it is considered from as many different aspects as there are parts to this multiform poem. Highly exploratory, with words sometimes rising from or inspired by selected Renaissance wood-cut engravings, Anatomy of Voice is divided into four Partitions – across which are lyricised the shiftings of the question ‘what is a voice’, and the poem’s speculative and evocative answers.'

'When it comes to looking back over his life, Archie Fliess has got some understanding to do. So begins a sprawling reflection on his life during the early twentieth century, from the day the fortunes of brothers Archie and Reggie changed when they were taken to be the rightful owners of the property built by their grandfather in country NSW. Along their journey, they are introduced to an odd collection of family and caretakers, who don’t always have the best interests of the boys at heart. Archie becomes embroiled in the mystery surrounding his grandfather’s life, and as the two stories – Archie’s and his grandfather’s – unravel, we see familiar themes of disappointment and failed ambition. Glissando – A Melodrama is a tale that travels along many threads: it is an Australian story, told in a playful, philosophical voice in a style reminiscent of Sterne’s Tristram Shandy, with shades of Patrick White’s Voss. It has a burlesque bravado similar to Steve Toltz’s Fraction of the Whole. It’s an Australian classic, a satirical romp of epic proportions.' (Publication summary)